Jesse Covington

If I have had some merry times                 In roaming up and down the earth,              Have made some happy-hearted rhymes                 And had my brimming share of mirth,              And if this song should live in fame                 When my brief day is dead and gone,              Let it recall with mine the name                 Of old man Jesse Covington.              Let it recall his waggish heart--                 Yeke-hey, yeke-hey, hey-diddle-diddle--              When, while the fire-logs fell apart,                 He snatched the bow across his fiddle,              And looked on, with his eyes half shut,                 Which meant his soul was wild with fun,              At our mad capers through the hut                 Of old man Jesse Covington.              For all the thrilling tales he told,                 For all the tunes the fiddle knew,              For all the glorious nights of old                 We boys and he have rollicked through,              For laughter all unknown to wealth                 That roared responsive to a pun,              A hale, ripe age and ruddy health                 To old man Jesse Covington!